Manage audiences, segments, and consent
Audiences and segments
Audience data comes from contact and lead records (and other tables once audience configuration allows them). Segments come in two flavours: dynamic (query-based, membership recalculated on refresh) and static (a snapshot taken when created). Real-time segments are evaluated continuously enough that newly qualifying people can enter a live journey shortly after they meet the criteria; outbound segments refresh on a schedule.
Build segments with attribute and related-table conditions, operators, AND/OR groups, and Copilot natural-language authoring that generates the query. Always review the generated query and member count before saving.
Consent
Consent is recorded per contact point (an email address or phone number) against a purpose and optional topic. A contact may consent to "Commercial" but not "Newsletter", and the check happens at send time. Key mechanics: double opt-in (confirmation link required before consent counts), the subscription center (contact self-service preferences), and do-not-email style flags that override everything. Suppression/exclusion settings block specific addresses or domains regardless of consent.
Traps:
- Segment membership is not permission to send - a perfect segment with no consent produces zero sends.
- Consent belongs to the contact point, not the person; a newly added email address starts with no consent.
- Unsubscribing from one purpose does not remove consent for other purposes.
- A static segment never picks up new members.
Rule of thumb: for "why did nobody receive the email?", check three gates in order - segment membership, consent for that purpose at that contact point, and suppression lists.